This hand-painted artwork from George Zimmerman is going for… (eBay.com )

December 21, 2013|By Kevin P. Connolly, Orlando Sentinel

George Zimmerman earned a new title Saturday — professional artist — when eBay bidding ended in six figures on his oil painting.

The winning bid: $100,099.99. It wasn't immediately known who bought Zimmerman's original oil painting showing part of an American flag washed in blue with the words "God," "one nation" and "with liberty and justice for all" printed in the flag stripes.

The painting had received 96 bids from 24 bidders since the auction started Monday, said eBay, which doesn't disclose bidders' names online. Bidding ended at 12:55 p.m. Saturday.

"Whoever wins within the Continental United States, will receive this painting delivered by me personally. Your friend," Zimmerman said on eBay.

A frenzy followed soon after bidding started Monday, driving the offers to nearly $100,000 in a single day.

A jury in Seminole County acquitted Zimmerman in July of murder in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a black Miami high-school student, in a case that stirred a national debate on issues of self-defense, racial justice, gun control and profiling.

Zimmerman became a polarizing figure after claiming self-defense in the Sanford shooting in February 2012.